Wykes S M, Visscher D W, Krawetz S A
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48201, USA.
Mol Hum Reprod. 1997 Jan;3(1):15-9. doi: 10.1093/molehr/3.1.15.
Mammalian spermiogenesis is marked by the morphological and functional differentiation of round haploid spermatids into mature spermatozoa. A molecular restructuring of the chromatin accompanies this process facilitated by the transition proteins and protamines which compact and condense the genetic material within the developing spermatid. Previous studies from this laboratory have demonstrated that human protamines PRM1, PRM2 and transition protein TNP2 transcripts are associated with round and elongating spermatids. Extending this investigation, we examined the occurrence of these transcripts in mature spermatozoa by in-situ hybridization analysis using [35S]-labelled cRNA probes. These results demonstrate that PRM1, PRM2 and TNP2 haploid-specific transcripts are present in mature spermatozoa. Quantitative analysis of the localized signal also indicates that the PRM1, PRM2 and TNP2 transcripts persist at a similar ratio to that previously described for these transcripts in human testes, i.e. PRM2 > PRM1 approximately equal to TNP2. The persistence of these transcripts in mature spermatozoa warrants further investigation.
哺乳动物精子发生的标志是圆形单倍体精子细胞向成熟精子的形态和功能分化。染色质的分子重组伴随着这一过程，过渡蛋白和鱼精蛋白促进了这一过程，它们使发育中的精子细胞内的遗传物质压缩和浓缩。本实验室先前的研究表明，人类鱼精蛋白PRM1、PRM2和过渡蛋白TNP2转录本与圆形和伸长的精子细胞相关。扩展这项研究，我们使用[35S]标记的cRNA探针通过原位杂交分析检测了这些转录本在成熟精子中的存在情况。这些结果表明，PRM1、PRM2和TNP2单倍体特异性转录本存在于成熟精子中。对局部信号的定量分析还表明，PRM1、PRM2和TNP2转录本的持续存在比例与先前在人类睾丸中描述的这些转录本的比例相似，即PRM2>PRM1约等于TNP2。这些转录本在成熟精子中的持续存在值得进一步研究。
